Patterns can be found everywhere. They are the blueprint for everything alive. You see them in plants, flowers, animals, and humans. We see a spiral pattern repeated in a pine cone, a whirlpool of water, a nautilus shell – as small as the tendrils of a pea plant and as large as the Milky Way galaxy.
There is something significant and even sacred about patterns; they have a repetition and symmetry that we can count on, and they help us feel connected to our environment, each other, and to ourselves internally.
There are patterns that we can see – just look around you at the repetitive designs in your clothing fabric, rug, pillows, and in pictures.
There are also designs we can’t see, like our patterns of thoughts, patterns of feelings, and patterns of actions.
Like many patterns in our lives, our patterns of thoughts, feelings, and actions are interconnected. If a part of a spider’s web is pulled away by the wind, the rest won’t be strong enough to catch a fly, so the spider will have to spin more silk to complete the pattern. We know that weather patterns can bring beautiful weather to some parts of the world and bring storms and winds to other regions.
Once you recognize a pattern – the repetitive way you’ve been doing something – you can decide if you want to keep it or change it. And once you do, you’ll see how other aspects of your life are affected by that change, whether in a harmonious or disruptive way.
If you have a pattern of functioning you don’t like, replace it with something different.
- A way of changing a pattern of action is to modify it or eliminate it.
- A way of changing a pattern of feeling is to find something to put your attention on that makes you feel different.
- A way of changing a pattern of thought is to think about the opposite of what you’ve been thinking or think about what could be rather than what is happening at the moment.
What’s one pattern you are aware of that you’d like to change? What will you do differently?
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